The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Nemesia, botanically known as Nemesia caerulea, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘NAKNEM003’. The new cultivar originated from a hybridization made in 2003 in Fujisawa, Japan between the female parent, ‘TNP’, an unpatented proprietary Nemesia caerulea line having pink flowers and the male parent, an unnamed and unpatented individual plant of Nemesia caerulea, having pink flowers.
In spring 2003, the female parent line ‘TNP’ and the male parent were crossed and an F1 plant line was created. The F1 seeds produced by the hybridization were sown in a greenhouse and later transplanted to an outdoor trial. The F1 plants were evaluated and selected based on flower color, plant growth habit, flowering at the top of the plant and stem strength. The F2 generation seed was sown in October 2003, and the F3 generation seed was sown in September 2004 and later transplanted to an outdoor trial. In December 2004, 10 plants were selected for further evaluation and for asexual propagation. In March 2005, a single plant selection, ‘TNP-4B-10’, was chosen based on its pink flower color, compact and branching plant growth habit, flowering at the top of the plant and strong stem. This selection was asexually propagated by cuttings in Fujisawa, Japan and further evaluated in Fujisawa, Japan in 2005 in an indoor pot trial and an outdoor trial to confirm the uniformity and stability of its characteristics. The selection was found to reproduce true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation and subsequently was named ‘NAKNEM003’.
The new cultivar was created in 2003 in Fujisawa, Japan and has been asexually reproduced repeatedly in Fujisawa, Japan over a two-year period. The plant has also been trialed in Salinas, Calif. The present invention has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations.